Early STEM Exposure and Career Aspirations: A Longitudinal Study of How Primary-Level STEM Activities Shape Students’ Future Academic and Professional Pathways
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/trt/FL25.155Keywords:
Early STEM Exposure, Self-efficacy, Academic Achievement, Career Aspirations, Gender Disparities, Racial Disparities, STEM Education, STEM Activities, Educational PolicyAbstract
The issues that were addressed by this longitudinal research design are the impacts of exposure to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities in early age on academic achievement, self-efficacy and the career choice of students in the STEM fields. The study will involve the investigation of the impact of STEM engagement at an early age on the students’ academic performance and the aspiration of early school students on the career possibilities associated with STEM among a cohort of over five years. The results demonstrate that students that were exposed to frequent performances of STEM activities accrued a lot of self-efficacy and higher performance in the STEM subjects. Moreover, the study is able to come up with extremely good correlation between increased participation in the STEM activities and a subsequent increment in career goals in the future, more so in staggering STEM. The problem of the gender and racial difference was also touched upon, and female students and minority students turned out as more self-efficient and having more interests in the STEM-related professional world because of the earlier exposure. The study is also applicable to the available literature on the preliminary exposure of STEM and also provide a thought that can prove valuable to methodical educators and policymakers who can form a multidiverse and competent future STEM talent.
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